Europe's crackdown on both individual and corporate tax evaders hit a new high this morning when according to French daily Le Parisien, French tax officials raided the Paris offices of Google early Tuesday in a probe into possible tax evasion.
The raids follows a complaint by the French finance ministry, paper says. Acccording to Bloomberg, prosecutors and Al Verney, a spokesman for Google in Brussels, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters adds that investigators have been probing Google's offices in central Paris since 0500 am (0300 GMT). It notes that France is seeking €1.6 billion ($1.79 billion) in back taxes from the U.S. Internet giant Google, criticized for its use of aggressive tax optimization techniques, another source at the finance ministry had said in February.
Here is the original report, Google translated:
According to our information, a search is underway on Tuesday at Google headquarters in Paris in the ninth district. From five in the morning, following a complaint Bercy suspect that the US giant digital tax evasion, hundreds of tax officials and law enforcement brigade of the great financial crime (BRGDF) are on the premises, with the reinforcement of five judges of the national financial parquet.
"The operation was top secret, says a source. It was conducted without using the financial parquet courier to avoid leaks."
Since European tax crackdowns are rarely state-specific, we expect imminent such crackdowns in other Google offices across Europe.
More as we get it.